[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25297-25298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09898]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2013-N052; FXRS12650400000S3-123-FF04R02000]
Programmatic Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), intend to prepare
a programmatic environmental assessment (PEA) to evaluate the effects
of the cultivation and use of genetically modified crops (GMCs) on
lands that are part of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the
Southeast Region (Refuge System lands). The Service's Southeast Region
includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the
Caribbean. We provide this notice to advise other Federal and State
agencies, Native American tribes, non-governmental organizations, and
the public of our intention as well as to obtain suggestions and
information on the scope of issues to consider during the PEA planning
process.
These actions are part of our effort to comply with the general
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended
(NEPA); NEPA regulations; other appropriate Federal
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laws and regulations; and our policies and procedures for compliance
with those laws and regulations. As a requirement of NEPA, we must
identify resource issues, develop alternatives for the use of GMCs, and
evaluate the effects of each of our chosen alternatives on the human
environment.
DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments
by July 29, 2013.
ADDRESSES: A private consultant, Environmental Management and Planning
Solutions, Inc. (EMPSi), will support the Internet Web site associated
with the PEA and collect and organize comments.
You may send comments, questions, and requests for information by
one of the following methods:
Email: fw4_gmcpea@fws.gov (this email address will transmit
comments directly to the Service as well as to EMPSi's database);
Online portal: https://sites.google.com/site/fwsregion4gmcpeis/home
(this Internet Web site, which will serve as the primary source of
information to the public on the PEA, includes a portal for sending
comments directly to the Service through EMPSi);
U.S. mail: Richard Warner, NEPA Coordinator, GMCPEA, 1875 Century
Boulevard, Suite 420, Atlanta, GA 30345.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard Warner, NEPA Coordinator,
at 404-679-7110 (telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we initiate the process for developing a PEA on
the cultivation and use of genetically modified crops (GMCs) on our
Refuge System lands. Our PEA will concentrate on the refuges in our
Region that have used farming in the recent past and are likely to do
so in the foreseeable future. The overall analysis in the PEA is
intended, however, to apply to the entire Southeast Region.
The specific GMCs that will be analyzed in our PEA are varieties of
corn and soybean that could be used to provide a sufficient amount of
food for migratory waterfowl and satisfy the conservation goals of our
refuges. The proposed use of any other GMCs will require a separate
NEPA analysis on a case-by-case basis.
Background
As part of a settlement in Center for Food Safety v. Salazar, Case
No. 1:11 cv 01457 (D.D.C. 2011), which challenged the cultivation and
use of GMCs on our Refuge System lands, we agreed to cease using GMCs
after the 2012 planting season and to refrain from doing so until we
completed the appropriate level of NEPA analysis. Up through the end of
the 2012 planting season, certain of our refuges cultivated and used
GMCs as a management tool to provide food for millions of ducks, geese,
doves, cranes, and other migrating waterfowl and shorebirds that
inhabit our Refuge System lands.
At this juncture, we have determined that a PEA is appropriate to
sufficiently analyze the environmental impacts of the cultivation and
use of GMCs on our Refuge System lands. If we determine during
preparation of the PEA that it is not appropriate for our NEPA analysis
or if we are unable to make a finding of no significant impact at the
conclusion of our analysis via the PEA, we will prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) in accordance with NEPA.
Refuge farming in the Southeast Region primarily occurs through
cooperative farming agreements that are entered into by a refuge
manager and a farmer. Via the agreement, the farmer is authorized to
grow crops on a designated number of acres on the refuge. In return,
the farmer agrees to harvest an agreed upon percentage share of the
crop and to leave the remaining crop in the fields as a food source for
migrating birds.
The only GMCs that have been cultivated and used on our Refuge
System lands are those that have been evaluated and deregulated by the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, as described in 7 CFR 340.6. Each of these
GMCs was subjected to extensive scientific evaluation and regulatory
processes before being granted non-regulated status, as described at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/index.shtml. Each proposal to
grant non-regulated status to the GMCs underwent a NEPA analysis via an
environmental assessment. These environmental assessments are posted on
the APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/not_reg.html. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
evaluates all pesticides associated with GMCs for general environmental
effects, while the Food and Drug Administration evaluates the potential
impact of the GMC on food safety.
The authority for approving GMCs on refuge lands, nationwide, was
delegated by the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to the
Regional Chiefs of the National Wildlife Refuge System in April 2007.
This policy may be found at http://www.fws.gov/policy/601fw3.html.
We will conduct six public scoping meetings to solicit input on the
issues, concerns, and alternatives for the cultivation and use of GMCs
on refuges in the Region. Meetings will be conducted at the following
locations: Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (North Carolina);
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (Alabama); Tennessee National Wildlife
Refuge (Tennessee); Vicksburg, Mississippi; and Alexandria, Louisiana.
The addresses, dates, and times of meetings will be announced through
local and regional media.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, suggestion or
correspondence, you should be aware that your entire comment--including
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available
at any time. While you may request in your comment that we withhold
your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Authority
This notice is published under the authority of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
Dated: March 27, 2013.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-09898 Filed 4-29-13; 8:45 am]
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